Château Clauzet

It was in 1997 that Maurice Velge acquired Châteaux Clauzet and de Côme. The origin of these crus goes back to the early 19th century. Over successive inheritances, by the time they were bought, they formed no more than a vineyard of about 8 hectares.
In the months that followed, Maurice Velge set about consolidating the whole through the acquisition of delimited plots on the Saint-Estèphe terroir, on the same line of rises which, from Margaux to Saint-Estèphe, faces the river and forms a line of excellence on which the greatest Médoc crus are established. By the end of 1999, their area had reached 30 hectares.
At the same time, he surrounded himself with a team that would allow him to raise Château Clauzet to the standing its terroir can earn it, and he personally invested himself in the commercial effort.
José Bueno, who comes from the Mouton Rothschild school (he worked there for 23 years), provides the technical management of the estate.
The vineyard is maintained using traditional methods: two earthing-up ploughings, two ploughings to take the soil away from the vines, manual removal of soil between the vines, regular maintenance by raking, disbudding, suckering, leaf removal, green harvests… As regards plant protection, the approach adopted is one of integrated pest management.
Naturally, the harvest is carried out by hand at optimal ripeness in small crates, with two successive sortings.
The installation of a new vat room allows the vinification of different lots, plot by plot. Furthermore, the choice of vats as tall as they are wide favours exchanges between solids and liquids. A maceration of varying length, followed step by step, and a vinification appropriate to each vat make it possible to release gradually all the qualities contained in the grape, favouring the characteristics of the terroir.
Malolactic fermentation in new barrels concerns nearly 30% of the production of Château Clauzet.
The wines are aged in 30% new oak for Château Clauzet and 10% for Château de Côme, the rest of the production being housed in one-wine-old barrels.
Fourteen to eighteen months later, they are bottled and sold 70% through the trade and 30% direct.